Garrioch: Boucher still not sure what his lineup will look like Saturday against Canadiens

Fortunately, he’s still got a little bit of time with the Ottawa Senators in the midst of a four-day break in the schedule.

As the Senators wrapped up their skate Thursday at the Canadian Tire Centre, the club’s coach had more questions than answers when it came to filling out his lineup card for Saturday’s visit by the Montreal Canadiens.

There was one piece of good news because winger Mark Stone was back on the ice after skipping Wednesday’s visit to the Robert Guertin Arena. He will be ready to play against the Habs and opted for rest to make sure everything was fine.

“I just took an extra day to calm the body down a bit,” said Stone. “I felt really good (Thursday) at practice so I’ll be playing Saturday.”

That’s the only guarantee on the injury front.

While Brady Tkachuk (leg), Cody Ceci (upper body) and Alex Formenton (concussion) are definitely sidelined until next week, Boucher isn’t sure if Ryan Dzingel (lower body) and Max McCormick (lower body) will be able return for the first visit by the Habs this season.

“I’d love to tell you the lineup for Saturday, but I really don’t know,” Boucher told reporters at his daily news conference.

The timing of this break could work out well in the end for the Senators, but it doesn’t look like it’s going to result in a whole lot of reinforcements getting back as a result of rest from the regular schedule.

Judging by Boucher’s updates on injuries, only Dzingel will be ready. That means the Senators will have to reach down to their AHL affiliate in Belleville to fill out their lineup. It would make sense if forward Nick Paul returned to Ottawa after being sent back Tuesday.

McCormick joined the Senators for the skate Thursday, but since the injury he’s battling hampered him in training camp, he’s likely going to have to wait until next week before he can return.

If Paul is recalled and Dzingel does come back, then the club will have 12 forwards and six defencemen against the Habs because they don’t have any extra blue-liners with Ceci out.

Since the Senators don’t get breaks like this often, they’re trying desperately to make the best use of their time. Coming off a 4-1 win over the Dallas Stars on Monday, they have spent the past few days working on areas that need improvement if they’re going to compete for a playoff spot.

Sure, the timing of this break is strange at the start of the season, but you won’t find anybody complaining about the down time. Starting with the visit by the Habs, the Senators will play 12 games in the next 22 days, and six of those are going to be on the road.

“It’s one of those (breaks) where you enjoy it while you have it, but you know you’re going to make up for it somewhere in the schedule,” defenceman Mark Borowiecki said. “That’s always in the back of your mind a little bit. We’ve had a couple of long (skates) here.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re fresh here. We’re going to play an opponent that’s skating well and is playing much the same way that we are. It’s going to be a good test for us.”

The Senators had no shortage of momentum before this, and with a victory over the Habs or Boston Bruins Tuesday to end this homestand the club can finish with six of a possible 10 points. That would put Ottawa in a good position before heading out on the road next week.

“You always welcome rest,” Borowiecki said. “The physical rest might not be needed right now and it’s more so just the mental rest. It’s good sometimes to shut your brain off and get away from the pressures of competition and the game. That can kind of refresh you mentally and physically.

“It’s important that we manage that. At the same time, we have to walk that line and make sure that we’re still staying focused.”

Boucher has tried to use this time to achieve improvements in areas where the club is going to need it. A lot of time has been spent working with the power-play units because that’s been an area where the Senators have been performing well and they want to stay on top of it.

Life has to go on without the injured players.

“I’ve learned over the years that you can’t plan all you do around two or three guys and then everybody else doesn’t benefit from what they need to do,” Boucher said. “You have to keep doing what you need to do.”

The Senators are hopeful coming out of this break that they can pick up where they left off against the Stars on Monday night.

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